"This is a lot of work," Owens said while shuffling through the contents of one binder in her Virginia Beach office. "This is the part people don't see goes into the planning and fundraising for this initiative."

After nearly three years of regional data gathering, research and conferring with area businesses and economic development groups, Owens recently received the green light from federal officials to launch Virginia Beach-based Virginia Atlantic Regional Center, or VARC — the first of its kind in the state.

The center, whose coverage area includes 35 counties from Hampton Roads to metro Richmond, is a new economic development task force established to help lure foreign investors seeking quick access to American visas through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services'(USCIS) Immigrant Investment Program, also known as the EB-5 program.

There are more than 200 regional centers operating in 40 states, all tasked with linking local developers and municipalities with foreign investors who have deep pockets.

"It's all about the jobs and investments," said Owens, principal founder of the center. "Many of these investors are providing capital for a number of projects that are helping to create a number of jobs in cities across the U.S."

Hampton Roads is no exception.

Owens, who also doubles as president of Virginia Beach-based Beach Development Group, is actively raising $1 million through the EB-5 program for her own project called AsiaTown, a 10.6-acre commercial mixed-use development set to rise in Virginia Beach's Princess Anne section.

The economic impact of AsiaTown could be significant, potentially creating hundreds of jobs and a $12 million to $15 million investment in the growing city, Owens said. Her statement prompted some regional economic development officials to ponder EB-5 investment use on the Peninsula, including for new phases of Newport News' City Center development.

EB-5 growth

Established in 1990, the EB-5 program allows foreign investors to contribute between $500,000 and $1 million to a variety of U.S. businesses specializing in new residential, commercial or industrial ventures that create a minimum of 10 jobs.

In exchange for the investment, many of the foreign nationals are granted U.S. visas for their families.

"Just because they invest the money for a project doesn't mean they are rubber stamped for visas and immediately granted entry into the U.S.," Owens said. "The USCIS has to track where the money is coming from to make sure the projects are not funded with terrorist dollars. I would say these investors receive more scrutiny than a typical visa applicant because they are looking to invest large quantities of money in the U.S."

The profile of EB-5 investors varies.

Between fiscal years 2009 and 2013, nearly 75 percent of all EB-5 funds being allocated in the U.S. came from China, according to a report by Chicago-based IIUSA, a not-for-profit trade association that advocates for the continued use and renewal of the program in the U.S.

Other investors using the program to gain U.S. visas originate from more than a 101 countries, including Iran, India, Brazil, Canada and Germany.

"There are 10,000 visas set aside per year for the program," Owens said. "About 3,000 green cards are reserved for designated regional centers … the total does not limit us, it's just the reserve amount."

Given the country's economic resurgence from the depths of the Great Recession, EB-5 investors could easily increase their 2010-2011 national totals in 2014 by 35 to 40 percent, the report said.

Owens said ultimately the program is to help rural and urban areas struggling with lackluster job growth and high unemployment by funding a number of projects that include mixed-use residential and commercial developments, hotels and motels, senior living facilities and research and medical institutions.

Given the region's pull as a global logistics and military hub, Owens said Hampton Roads could benefit from such investment.

But that potential could be even greater on the Peninsula side of the region.

"You've got some great international synergy already happening on that side," Owens said. "I think that's what makes this program so important to the growth of the region."

Owens said parts of Hampton, Smithfield, Williamsburg, and Isle Of Wight and York counties could benefit from EB-5 investors because of their pockets of poverty and high unemployment.

But it may be Newport News that could lead the Peninsula pack of cities in potential EB-5 foreign investment, right in the heart of one of its most economically robust commercial cores — City Center.